


My weakness is that I care too much.

by anarchyat4am



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-25 23:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20034355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anarchyat4am/pseuds/anarchyat4am
Summary: Barry gets injured on a mission when he isn’t wearing his suit. But he doesn’t want to undress to let anyone fix him up. Oliver helps.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little thing I wrote up when I was sad. I don’t mind where it ends at the moment but I might continue it when I’m in a bad mood again.
> 
> Title is from Scars by Papa Roach.

Diggle supports a gasping Barry as the team makes their way back into the lair after their (mostly) successful mission. 

“Put him on the table. We need to get that shirt off and clean the wound,” Oliver says, ushering Diggle and Barry towards their makeshift operating table. 

“No!”

“You’ll be fine, Barry,” Felicity says, making her way over to take charge of the situation. “It’ll sting a bit, sure, but we need to clean it up so we can see how bad you are- It is! How bad the injury is!” 

“Felicity,” Oliver growls. 

“Sorry, sorry. Geez. Now, come on, Barry, I’ll try to make it as painless as I can.”

“No, that’s not what I meant… I just- I can’t-”

Oliver studies Barry’s face. He looks conflicted, his eyes pleading silently to Oliver. 

“Leave us,” Oliver says, eyes never leaving Barry’s face as the others clear out. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but you need to let me clean you up so we can make sure it doesn’t get any worse.”

“My shirt… I can’t take it off.”

Oliver cocks his head to the side, furrowing his brows. 

“I mean- I  _ can _ , physically, but I just...  can’t.” 

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, if you don’t want to take it off, I’ll have to knock you out and cut it off you.”

“No!” Barry shouts before he groans and drops himself back down onto the table. 

“Are you really going to let me shoot you again?” Oliver says with a grin. 

Barry glares at him and lets out a sigh. “Fine. Help me get it off, then,” He says, pushing himself up to lean on his forearms.

Oliver moves closer and puts a hand on Barry’s shoulder. “Whatever it is, I’m not gonna judge you. And I won’t tell anyone anything you don’t want them knowing. But I need you to let me take a look.”

“Okay,” Barry says in a small voice. 

“Thank you, Barry.”

Oliver runs his hand down Barry’s arm before finding the hem of his sweater and lifting it and his shirt gently over Barry’s head. Neither says anything else as Oliver cleans and dresses the wound on Barry’s side, his gaze never straying from where it needs to be. When he finishes, Oliver turns away to clean up the bench. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks casually and in a tone softer than Barry expects from him. 

“No,” Barry says instantly. “I mean- Maybe. But not right now.”

“Okay, I can live with that.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who already got sad again :')

The next time Barry’s in town, he spends most of his time avoiding Oliver, even though that’s almost impossible considering why Barry’s even in town in the first place. After the mission, though, Oliver catches him as he tries to sneak back up the stairs out of the lair. 

“Hey, can we talk?” Oliver asks, catching up to Barry on the stairs and clapping a hand on his shoulder. 

“Do we have to?” 

Oliver chuckles quietly, “You know we do. Come on, let’s go get a drink.”

*

“So.”

“So.”

“How are you doing?” Oliver asks, setting his drink on the table.

“How am I doing? That’s what you’re asking?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m asking,” Oliver says, a silent laugh falling from his lips. “What? Didn’t think Oliver Queen could care about someone?”

“Of course not!” At Oliver’s  _ look _ , Barry concedes, “Okay, maybe. I know you’re different to how the media paints you, but still… I don’t know you all that well yet.”

“And I’d like to change that, if it’s okay with you.”

“Yes! I mean-“ Barry coughs, “Yeah, that’d be cool.”

Oliver grins at him and takes a swig of his beer. Barry, taken aback by the way their conversation is going, just stares at him. 

“What?” Oliver asks, and Barry swears he looks a little nervous. 

“I just thought this was gonna be more like an interrogation.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Y’know, the usual… ‘When did it start, why do you do this to yourself, how could you...’”

“Is that how it’s gone when people have found out?” Oliver asks quietly. 

Barry nods slowly. 

“Fuck, man.”

“Yeah. And everyone who’s found out about it has forced me to promise not to do it again. But it’s easier to let them think I’m fine than to deal with the way they look at me like I’m weak.”

Barry looks away, fingers finding his napkin to fidget with, nervous under Oliver’s gaze. 

“Look, Barry. I know this isn’t an easy thing to talk about. So I only want to know what you want to tell me. And if you don’t want to tell me anything, I won’t try to force you.”

“Thanks, Ollie. I want to talk to you about it, I really do. It’s just… difficult.”

“I get it. Take your time.”

The two of them sit in silence for a while, sipping their drinks and watching other people in the club. As Barry finishes his drink, he looks back to Oliver. 

“I’ve been clean for two months now, you know? Since-”

“Since I found out,” Oliver finishes for him. 

“Yeah. I, uh- I wanted to thank you, actually.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Barry.”

“No, I do. I was in shock last time I saw you, from the injury and everything else, that I forgot…” Barry trails off, taking a breath before continuing, “Thank you. For fixing me up and for not saying anything. For everything.” 

Oliver smiles and places a hand on Barry’s, stilling the movement of his hands and making him look up. 

“You don’t ever have to thank me.”


End file.
